The Breakup
by C'estLaVieBoheme
Summary: Maureen and Joanne have broken up...again. Based mainly on the stage version, slight inspiration from the movie. First Fanfic! Please review! Also, ideas are welcome!
1. Chapter 1

"_Damnit_! Pookie! For the last time, I was_ not_ flirting, we were just talking. Really, pookie, we were just talking. I happened to mention that she had on a pretty necklace, and she showed it to me!"

"Don't give me any of that 'we were just talking' crap! You've used that too many times to make it believable."

There was silence.

Joanne finally spoke, "You think I'm stupid don't you, Maureen?" She paused. "I mean, I must be. I keep coming back to a flirtatious, selfish _bitch_ that only cares about herself and her feelings, not the feelings of others. It's almost like you seem to think that a simple, monogamous relationship is beneath you!"

I was dumfounded. She had never called me anything like that. Not even when we were arguing like this.

Did she really just call me all those things or am I just imagining this? _I thought to myself. _There's no way I'm imagining this. She just won't understand that I'm actually telling the truth for once!

_I made a move to step closer, but she just backed away._

"_Pookie…" I said quietly._

"_Don't you give me any of that 'pookie' shit, either! I always hated when you used that _damn_ nickname in times like this," she said coldly._

_More silence. I wanted to say something, but I knew if I said something, it would've been wrong. I wanted to do something, but I knew if I did anything, she'd back away or push me away. I opened my mouth to say something, but I was quickly stopped by her words. _

"_You can pack your stuff tomorrow, and I expect you to be out of here by the next day. If you need any help moving, call those friends of _yours_."_

"_Poo-," I quickly stopped myself." Joanne, they're your friends too. Can't we just go to bed and discuss this in the morning? Then we can see if you really want me to move out."_

"There is no discussion! _I WANT YOU THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE_!"

I could see the hurt in her eyes. I knew I hurt her those many times. I remember one of those times, it was actually the last time I flirted another man or woman on purpose.

Joanne and I had gone to a club for a night out on the town. I don't remember the name, though. It was just before Valentine's Day, and we hadn't had a fight in several weeks. I really thought we were going to be happy for once. But I messed up. There was this waitress, in rubber, and she was… hot. She was beautiful, and Joanne had gone to the restroom, so I decided that I could have a little fun. I didn't even realize she had seen us until we were rehearsing on Valentine's Day. She kept saying stuff about Gray Communications, and that damn Christmas Eve riot. Then I mentioned her wanting to leave in a hurry that night, and she said 'YOU WERE FLIRTING WITH THE WOMAN IN RUBBER.'

_Now that I look back on that night, she did want to leave pretty quickly after coming back from the restroom_. _Thankfully, Joanne allowed me to stay on her couch for tonight, while she took the bed. The apartment had a sort eerie chill to it. I felt empty and cold without the warm body of my love in arms_

_A few days later, I was moved back into the loft with Mark, Roger, and Mimi, who was still recovering from the night__ she almost died. The moment I saw Mimi walk into the room, I was bombarded of memories of that night._

It was Christmas Eve, and we had been searching the entire city for any sign of Mimi. Roger had returned from Santa Fe, and had joined us in the search. I don't really remember how we did it, but Joanne and I found her on a park bench. She looked ready to die right then and there, but surprisingly she held on until we got to the Loft. Even more surprising than that was that she survived.

_After briefly telling Mark and Mimi (Roger never really cared about relationship talk) what happened, I quietly went to my room. It hadn't changed from the last time I was in there, which was just after our huge New Year's Breaking into the Building party. Joanne and I had gotten back together that night, and I was excited about my second chance. A few days later though, I came to check and see if everything Benny took had gotten back safe and sound. While there, I stopped by Mimi's place to say hello. Before I had a chance to knock on the door, I heard her singing. She and Roger had just fought, and she was depressed. I still remember some of the words to that song:_

"Without you, the seeds root, the flowers bloom, the children play. The stars gleam, the poets dream, the eagles fly, without you. The earth turns, the sun burns, but I die without you. Without you, the breeze warms, the girl smiles, the clouds move. Without you, the tides change, the boys run, the oceans crash. The crowds roar, the days soar, the babies cry. Without you, the moon glows, the river flows, but I die without you."

A perfect description for my feelings: "I die without you…"


	2. Chapter 2

Without Joanne, my life is shit. I feel like a huge, fat piece of crap. Every time I try to fall asleep, I feel the emptiness of the bed, and on those occasions when I do fall asleep, I wake up in the morning expecting to see those dark chocolate eyes of my Pookie twinkle when I opened my own. I don't feel like eating because when Mark calls, 'Dinner!' memories of my pookie cooking dinner for me come flooding back, except that Pookie would say, 'Honeybear! Come eat your dinner!' Oh God, her voice was so smooth, so very smooth, almost like chocolate from a chocolate fountain. The smoothness of her voice almost rivaled the smoothness of those lips, and that chocolate brown skin. Oh, how I miss those lips...

After a week of eating nothing, I decided that I would go into the kitchen and try to eat something. As I emerged from my solitude, I looked around on to discover Joanne sitting on the couch. She was explaining to Mark that she had found something behind the couch that belonged to me and she came over to return it. As I walked into the room, Mark's eyes met mine. Joanne, being the curious person she is, turned to look. My eyes met hers, and I quickly looked back at Mark. His eyes pleaded with me to stay in the room, to reconcile with my ex-pookie, to make my life not so shitty.

Joanne opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but before she had the chance, I ran back into my room. I attempted to hold back the tears, and succeeded for a while. I succeeded long enough to hear her say: "She looks bad, Mark. Really bad." I kept my post at the door and listened.

"Yeah, Jo. She hasn't eaten since she got here, she hasn't gone out, which as you know is unusual for her, and the only times she's gotten out of bed are to get a glass of water or to use the bathroom."

"I miss her, Mark. I want her back; she's all I can think about now. When it's time for bed, I keep wanting to go to the couch and say, 'Honeybear, come to bed.' It's then that I realize, she's not there. I tell myself that I'm stupid for wanting her to come back, but all the while I miss her. She's my Honeybear, and I need her."

My heart was full of joy when I heard that.

"But.." she hesitated.

Crap! With Joanne, there was always a big but, of course, not her actual butt 'cause her ass is so amazing.

She continued, "I just don't know if I could trust her again."

My heart sunk. Ever since Valentine's Day, I hadn't flirted with anyone except for Joanne and the rest of the bohos, except Mark. I haven't flirted with Mark since we broke up. Or Benny. Eww. I would never flirt with either of them. Just the thought of flirting with them made me nauseous.

Mark spoke up in my defense, "Jo, you should at least try. She really misses you. I can tell."

Damn you, Mark. Why'd you have to go and tell her that? Idiot.

Mark went on to tell her my side of the story that she simply refused to hear when it was coming from my lips. It was the same story I tried to tell her, but apparently, it seemed more believable coming from his mouth than from mine.

I couldn't really hear what Joanne said after he finished the story, all I could tell was that she left in a hurry. There was a knock at the door.

"Hey, Mo. Let me in. We need to talk," it was Mark.

I opened the door, but before he could step over the threshold, I fell into his skinny, little arms and began to cry.

"I miss my Pookie, Mark, I miss her," I said through my tears.

"She misses you too, Mo. She misses you too."


	3. Chapter 3

Joanne was sitting on her couch, thinking over what Mark had told her earlier that day.

"_I just don't know if I could trust her again," she had said._

"_Jo, you should at least try. She misses you. I can tell."_

_Mark paused. She could tell he was contemplating something._

"_When we had just finished moving Mo in, we asked her what caused this mess. At first, she seemed reluctant to tell us, but eventually, she did. She said it all started when you went to the Life Café. .."_

Once he mentioned the Life Café, Joanne was immediately taken back to that day. _She had just completed on if her most difficult cases, and Maureen wanted to go out and celebrate. So, Maureen suggested the Life Café. 'Of course,' _Joanne thought_, 'She always wants to go there.' A few minutes after they had ordered their food, Joanne had to go to the restroom…_

Mark had just gotten to this part in Maureen's version:

"_She told me that you had gone to the restroom. While Mo was sitting there, waiting like any good girlfriend would be, an old friend of hers walked by. A friend that Maureen assures me is straight. So this friend begins to ask all the normal questions you would ask a person if you hadn't seen them in a while: 'How are you? Are you dating anyone? Who is he?' After that question was asked, this friend was informed that Maureen had found someone and that this someone was a girl. Mo told me that this is the most important part of her story. She told the woman in completely un-flirty way that she thought her necklace was pretty. And unfortunately for Maureen, the woman showed her a more up close view of the necklace. Maureen also told me that this was the part you saw." _

Joanne was sucked back into the memory.

_She had just walked out of the ladies room only to discover Maureen looking at someone's necklace along with that someone's very noticeable cleavage. Due to Maureen's previous behavior, Joanne was absolutely furious. As Joanne approached the table, the woman stuck out her hand and began to introduce herself._

'_**Save it**__!' Joanne snapped, 'Maureen, you __**promised **__you wouldn't do this again!'_

_Maureen stated to the woman that Joanne wasn't normally like this. Joanne remembered grabbing her purse and heading outside. On her way out, Joanne heard Maureen mutter 'Sorry,' then she heard the clicking heels behind her. Joanne stopped outside to cool down a bit. _

'_POOKIE!' Maureen yelled to Joanne, obviously frustrated, 'What the __**hell**__ was that about?' _

'_**YOU PROMISED, MAUREEN! YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T DO IT AGAIN**__!' Joanne said as she turned away from Maureen to hide the tears she could feel growing. _

'_**Hey!**__ You can at least tell me what the __**fuck **__I did!' Maureen yelled, following behind._

_Joanne paused for a second to wipe a tear, then she turned to face Maureen._

'_**YOU WERE FLIRTING WITH THAT WOMAN**__, whatever the hell her name is!' she said before began walking again._

_Maureen yelled out some sort of name, but Joanne was too pissed to care. She kept walking faster and faster hoping Maureen would give up before they got to the apartment. At one point, Maureen did catch up with Joanne and put her hand on Joanne's shoulder. _

'_Pookie!' Maureen said, hoping to get her lover to turn around. Sadly, her plan didn't work. Joanne ripped her shoulder out of Maureen's grasp and kept walking. Finally, the frustrated couple reached the apartment they shared. _

_The next part was the part Joanne wanted most to forget. She wanted to forget that she had called Maureen a 'selfish bitch that only cared about herself,' and someone that seemed to think that 'a simple monogamous relationship was beneath her.'_

Joanne couldn't believe that she had really called Maureen, her Honeybear the one she wanted to be with forever, all those mean, horrible and hateful things. She realized that in actuality, she had called Maureen a slut and a whore, only she made it sound different. They were the same thing to Maureen. Joanne also hated the fact that she told Maureen she hated to be called 'pookie', when it was really what Joanne preferred to be called. Joanne sat in their apartment realizing how quiet it was without the drama queen there to fill her life with an enjoyable amount of noise. Even the TV wouldn't suffice when it came to Maureen volume, so Joanne sat in silence, thinking.

'Damn. I screwed up…'


	4. Chapter 4

Ever since I saw Pookie the other day, I've felt a little better. I've started eating, and I've been out once. I didn't meet anyone, though; I just felt un-flirty. It's been a week since Joanne came to the loft. The bohos are planning a get-together at the Life Cafe tonight. While getting ready, I keep finding myself thinking, '_Is she going to be there? Will she speak to me? Will she let me speak to her?' _I've spent so much time thinking about her. A few hours ago, an idea came to me: _I should show her how much I've changed._ After that thought entered my head, I made up my mind to follow that idea.

The time came for us to go to the Life Café. When we entered the Café, all the memories from before Angel death and Mimi's near death experience came back to me. My thoughts drifted back to that last Christmas we were all together. That was the last time we were all together.

_It was the night of my protest, Christmas to be exact. We were all there except for Pookie, because Pookie was being a sweetheart and packing all my electronic crap from that night. Unfortunately for me and the rest of the bohos, Benny, along with his father-in-law Mr. Gray, was there. He congratulated me on my 'noble try,' and that irritated me, so I told him to go to hell. I figured he would fit in down there with all those other pieces of shit. Benny then proceeded to tell us that this was '__**Calcutta**__' and that 'Bohemia is __**dead**__.' Mark then proceeded to serenade us about the death of the 'late, great daughter of Mother Earth.' However, that wasn't my favorite part of the night. _I had several favorite moments, but this one was my favorite: _Mark had raised a glass, so I showed my ass. While pulling my pants back up, I turned to see Mr. Gray getting up to leave. I thought we had succeeded for a moment, but Benny convinced Mr. Gray to stay. Oy vey! Later on that night, he did leave. It wasn't that difficult to make him leave. All I had to do was slap Joanne's ass one time, tell Mr. Gray she was my sister, and then kiss her. He believed me when I told him she was my sister. Dumbass. _

'_Hey, mister! She's my sister!'_

_The waiter recited our orders back to us, 'Is that it here?'_

'_**WINE AND BEER**__!' we shouted in unison._

_Then, Angel and Mimi jumped on the table and started singing: _

'_Two handcrafted beers made in local breweries, to yoga, to yogurt, to rice and beans and cheese. To leather, to dildos to curry vindaloo, to huevos rancheros and Maya Angelou.'_

_Then it was Collins and my turn:_

'_Emotion, devotion, to causing a commotion, creation, vacation!'_

'_Mucho masturbation!' Mark chimed in._

_We continued:_

'_Compassion, to fashion, to passion when it's new!'_

_Not long after that, I made a point to kiss Pookie right in front of Gray. Finally, they left! _

_Then Pookie told me to pack my stuff and move out. _

Before I knew it, we were at the Life Café again, only this time, we were missing Angel. Mark, Mimi, Roger, Collins and I sat down. We ordered our drinks and talked for a few minutes.

'How've you been, Collins?' Mimi asked. She knew Angel's death and our behavior that day had really messed him up.

'I've been good, Meems. I miss him though. He was always a lot of fun. It's quieter than I'm used to, though,' Collins stated.

He quickly changed the subject, 'How are you and Jo, Mo? Have you eaten this week?'

Mark spoke for me, 'She has eaten. _**And**_she even went out once!'

Collins looked at Mark, then looked at me, 'I was asking Maureen, not you Mark.'

'I know.'

'Well, then why'd you answer?'

Mark just sat there. I answered Collins's question.

'I have eaten, and I did go out once, but it just wasn't fun. Pookie, I mean Joanne, came by the loft one day last week.'

Collins's face lit up, 'Well, did you speak to her, Mo?'

Mark looked like he wanted to answer, but I answered before he could open his mouth.

'No, I was surprised she was there...' I paused, 'and then I ran into my room.'

Roger started paying attention then and asked, 'When did this happen? Where was I?'

Mark and I looked at him, 'You were probably having sex with Mimi.'

I looked at Mark surprised because we said that at the same time. Also at that time, I looked behind Mark at the door when she walked in.

'**Pookie**! You did come!'


	5. Chapter 5

'_**Crap**__! I was supposed to be there ten minutes ago! I'm running late! Me, Joanne Jefferson, the always punctual lawyer is late!_' I thought to myself.

'I wonder if Maureen will be there,' I thought aloud.

My question was answered the moment I walked in the door.

From across the room, I hear, '_Pookie, you did come_!'

After that kind of greeting, I halfway expected to be tackled into a hug by Maureen, but I was mistaken. I made my way to the table.

Mark was the first to speak, 'Hey, Jo. We ordered you a beer, that okay?'

I nodded, 'Hey, Meems, how are you feeling? You look a lot better.'

'I feel a lot better, actually,' Mimi said.

The only seat left at the table was the one across from Maureen. I was determined to make this feel as natural as I could.

'How are you, Maureen?' I said. 'God, that was so business-like,' I thought to myself, 'That sounded like I hate her or something.'

'I'm doing good, Pookie. How are you?'

'Good, work has been stressful, but I'm good.'

Maureen smiled, and then made a weird face. 'Where are our drinks? We ordered them like… _forever ago_!' she said with her signature pout.

'I'll go get them,' I said, unable to resist that pout.

But I was stopped. By Maureen.

'No, Pookie. I'll go get them. You just got here. Sit, relax.'

I watched her walk over to the bar, and then I noticed the bartender. She was hot, according to Mo's standards.

'_That's why she wanted to get them_,' I thought to myself.

But I continued to watch Maureen. She held up her fingers to tell the bartender how many drinks she needed, but instead of watching the bartender walk away like she would normally do, she turned and waved at me.

'What's with her?' I asked the group still at the table.

They all shrugged. I didn't have the time to ask any more questions because Maureen walked up.

'What did I miss? Anything important?' she asked.

'Nope,' Collins said.

'Well, actually, you missed Mark being a _**perv**_ and filming Roger and I making out,' Mimi said, while Mark looked hurt.

Maureen turned to me, 'Jo, what did I miss, really?'

I just sat there. 'Um…I really don't know. I was kinda busy doing something else,' I said, blushing slightly.

Everyone started laughing.

'_Crap! That means they noticed me staring at her_!' I thought to myself. I blushed again…

Maureen looked at everyone else, and then she looked at me. She realized I was blushing, and she gave me a smile that said '_it's okay._' I smiled back. I had missed the way she smiled at me.

After a beer or two, Maureen decided that she had to use the 'little girl's room.' I decided to go with her. While we were washing our hands, I asked her about her behavior.

'Honeybear, is something wrong?'

She gave me a confused look, 'No, I'm fine. Why?'

'You're acting differently. You didn't stare at the bartender like you normally would.'

She paused, took a deep breath, and said, 'Joanne, pookie. I've _changed_. All those times I cheated and we argued, I could see how much pain I caused you. I heard what you said to Mark, and that really touched me. Do you feel like that every time we argue?' I could see the sincerity in her eyes. Those beautiful green eyes, I missed seeing them when I would wake up.

I thought for a moment, 'I do, Maureen. I'll get angry in the beginning, but I always end up realizing how much I miss you. You don't realize how happy you make me feel, Honeybear.'

'Pookie, I do realize it, which is why I decided to change. I've decided to change because missing you hurts like hell,' she said as a tear fell.

I reached my hand up to her face and wiped away the tear. She took my hand from its place on her cheek and put it over her heart. Her heart was racing.

'That's what you do to me, Pookie,' she said. I took her hand and placed it over my heart like she had just done.

'You do the same to me,' I said with a smile. 'After we leave here, do you want to come over and watch a movie or something?'

'I would love to, Pookie.'

I released her hand and wrapped my arms around her waist. She was a bit thinner since the last time, but I didn't mind. I was just glad to have her back in my arms. I slowly pulled her into a kiss. Her lips were so soft, I missed them too. The door opened behind us and a voice said:

'_**Oh. My. God!**_'


	6. Chapter 6

I couldn't believe what was happening. Joanne had kissed me, and everything was perfect. Well, almost everything; the location could've been better, but other than that, everything was perfect. Until Mimi walked in.

'Oh. My. God!'

Joanne turned to see who it was, but Mimi had already run out the door.

'Honeybear, who was that?' she asked with a confused look. It was such a cute look.

'Mimi,' I told her, 'It was Mimi.'

'_**Shit!**_' she whispered.

'What, Pookie? Is something wrong?' I could see the worry clouding her beautiful chocolate eyes.

'You know she's going to tell them. She's Mimi, she'll tell.'

'What's wrong with that, Pookie?'

'I was really hoping that we could keep us a secret for a while, since we just got back together.'

I just nodded; there wasn't anything I could say.

'Come on, we might as well go out there,' she said. I could tell she was embarrassed. She'd obviously never been caught kissing someone in a bathroom. We returned to the table.

Mimi looked at us and smiled. Collins, Roger, and Mark were talking about something I didn't understand.

'You told them, didn't you?' Joanne whispered to Mimi.

Mimi shook her head, 'Nope, unless you want me to.' She made a move to tap Roger on the shoulder. Joanne's hand shot out and quickly blocked Mimi's. 'Jo, relax. I wasn't really gonna do that,' Mimi laughed. It was good to see her laugh again. 'I knew Mo would've had no problem with me telling, but I figured you might've cared. And from what I understand, you can be pretty scary when you get mad, so I wasn't gonna mess with you,' she added with a smile.

We laughed together. Joanne looked relieved, but her laugh said that she was still worried. I reached under the table and held her hand. It was a little sweaty, but she was nervous and I thought it was cute. We turned our attention to the guys' conversation. Collins was talking about some of the papers he's graded. I love Collins, the guy is my best friend, but half the time I don't understand what the hell he's talking about. Since I couldn't understand, I just let the different memories play through my head like those 3-D IMAX movies.

The first memory that came to my mind was Angel's funeral.

_Pookie and I had just broken up and Angel died that day. Collins planned the funeral for Halloween, 'cause that was Angel's favorite holiday. Mimi and Mark had just said a few words, so I got up:_

'_So much more original than any of us. You'd find an old tablecloth on the street and make a dress, and next year sure enough, they'd be mass producing them at the Gap. You always said how lucky you were that we were all friends, but it was us, baby, __**we**__ were the lucky ones.'_

_As I sat down, Collins began singing. _

'_Live in my house, I'll be your shelter. Just pay me back with one thousand kisses. Be my lover and I'll cover you. Open your door, I'll be your tenant. Don't got much baggage to lay at your feet, but sweet kisses I've got to spare. I'll be there and I'll cover you.' _

_He got to a part in the song and Joanne began to sing. I'd never heard her sing before, but when she opened her mouth, that normally smooth speaking voice turned into this melodic singing voice that made me cry. She was singing along:_

'_So, with a thousand sweet kisses, I'll cover you. So with a thousand sweet kisses, I'll cover you…'_

_She looked so hurt; her bright eyes were clouded with sadness and despair. It made me want to hug her and just tell her that I would never leave her and that I would be faithful. When we walked out of the church, Roger, Mimi and Benny were having an argument. _

'_It's true, you're with this __**yuppie scum**__,' Roger said, angered._

_Benny said, 'You said you'd never speak to him again.' _

_Mimi looked as though she didn't want to discuss it, 'Not now.'_

_I had to step in, 'Who said that you have any say in who she says things to, at all?'_

'_**Yeah**__,' Roger added._

'_Who said that __**you **__should stick your nose in other people's-' _

_I cut Joanne off before she could finish, '__**Who**__**said I was talking to you**__?' _

'_We used to have this fight, each night. __**She'd never admit I existed**__!'_

'_He was the same way. He was always 'run away, hit the road, don't commit'. You're full of __**shit**__!' _

'_She's in denial!'_

'_He's in denial!'_

'_Didn't give __**inch**__, when __**I**__ gave a __**mile**__!' Joanne and Mimi said in unison._

'_**Gave**__**a mile to who**__?' Roger asked, obviously angry._

_Benny and Mark tried to calm them down, 'Come on, guys. __**Chill**__!'_

'_I'd be happy to __**die**__ for a taste of what Angel had. Someone to live for, unafraid to say '__**I love you'**__!'_

_I was so angry that I didn't hear anything else until Collins spoke._

'_You __**all **__said you'd be cool today, so please, for my sake. I can't believe he's gone, I can't believe you're going. I can't believe this family must die. Angel helped us believe in love, __**I can't believe you disagree**__.' _

'_I can't believe this is goodbye,' everyone said._

'_Pookie,' I said as I held my arms open for a hug._

_Joanne got up, 'Honeybear.'_

_We hugged._

'_I missed you so much,' I said, happy to have her back._

'_I missed you,' she said, obviously feeling the same way._

_We kissed, and she bit my tongue, but when I tried to tell her, she didn't believe me. Then we realized how stupid we were for arguing about that. Then we left. As we were walking, I turned to her:_

'_I love you, Pookie.' _

_**A/N: Sadly, I own nothing from RENT other than a copy of the movie, the filmed Broadway version and both soundtracks. All credit to Jonathan Larson and his amazing writing skills. **_

_**PS: Aren't Maureen and Joanne just too cute?**_

_**Also, should I continue it? Hmm…**_


End file.
